Exploring Downey

Council Member Sean Ashton

Sean Ashton was elected to serve the residents of Downey in November of 2014. He is ateacher for Los Angeles Unified School District and has taught at Heliotrope Elementary School for the past 20 years. At Heliotrope, Sean has served on the School Based Management/ School Site Council, Student Council Committee, and the Literacy Committee. He volunteers with the Heliotrope PTA by supervising after school activities and collecting box tops for Box Tops 4 Education. Sean has also represented the teachers at Heliotrope as either the chapter chair or vice chair for United Teachers of Los Angeles since 2001.

Sean believes in volunteering with local groups to help make the community a better place to live. Some of the organizations that he has volunteered for are:

Keep Downey Beautiful – 2005 to present (Sean was Volunteer of the Year for KDB in 2011)

Stauffer (West) Middle School (Auditor) – 2008 to 2010

Imperial Elementary School PTA (Auditor) -2009 to 2011

Old River Elementary School PTA (Auditor) - 2011 to 2013

Downey Council PTA (Auditor) - 2011 to 2013

Warren High School PAST (Treasurer) - 2012 to 2014

West Downey Little League (Coach/Manager) - 2011 to 2014

Sean has also served as a commissioner on Downey’s Green Task Force from 2011 to 2014. He was twice elected as chairperson of the Green Task Force by the other commissioners. While on the Green Task Force, some of the items Sean worked on were helping to pass an ordinance to prohibit the use of Styrofoam products at all city functions, working on a drought tolerant landscaping guide, and volunteering at Kid’s Day in conjunction with Keep Downey Beautiful.

Sean Ashton believes that Downey needs to improve the quality of life for residents. This can be achieved by focusing on:

Public Safety- Downey needs to keep its police and fire departments as local entities

Quality Jobs- Families should not have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet

Improving the Infrastructure- A poor infrastructure means fewer quality jobs and more time away from family

Volunteerism- We as a society cannot wait for issues to be taken care of, we need to do what we can to make Downey a better place

Sean has lived and worked in Downey since 1992. Sean has been married to his wife, Tammy, since 1993 and has three children Tiffany, Dylan, and Nolan.

Downey City Council Inter-Government Committees

California Contract Cities Assn. Board (CCCA)

Gateway City Council of Governments (COG) - Executive Committee

Gateway City Council of Governments (COG) - Sustainability

Gateway Cities SR-91/I-605 Corridor Cities Committee

Independent Cities Association (ICA), Secretary

League of California Cities, L.A. County appointed to Transportation, Communication, and Public Works Policy Committee